DREAM.18, which features both MMA bouts and the “GLORY 4 Tokyo – Heavyweight Grand Slam” kickboxing tournament, takes place Dec. 31 at Saitama Super Arena in Saitama, Japan. Plans for a possible broadcast in North America have not yet been announced. The card features a main event between Shinya Aoki and Antonio McKee.

Russia-born and California-based Karakhanyan, the final Tachi Palace Fights featherweight champ, comes into the New Year’s Eve card on a five-fight win streak. A little more than a year ago, he won Tachi’s 145-pound title with a first-round submission of Isaac DeJesus. In September, he defended it with a five-round unanimous decision win over Micah Miller. The four-fight Bellator veteran has twice competed in that promotion’s featherweight tournament.

Takaya, a WEC and Strikeforce veteran, has won five of his past six and two straight, including a 3-0 mark in 2010 with notable wins over Joachim Hansen, Chase Beebe and Bibiano Fernandes. After a Strikeforce loss to Robbie Peralta in April 2011, he picked up decision wins in DREAM fights against Kazuyuki Miyata and Tekeshi Inoue. But this months fight against Karakhanyan will be his first action in a year.

Baroni got back in the win column in August with a first-round TKO of Rodrigo Ribeiro at “ONE FC: Pride of a Nation.” That win snapped a two-fight skid and was just his second victory in seven fights. Baroni, whose resume includes 10 UFC fights, six PRIDE fights and a pair of bouts for Strikeforce, will fight for the first time under the DREAM banner. It will be his first fight in Japan since his stint in PRIDE in 2005-2006.

“Mach” Sakurai most recently fought on DREAM’s 2011 New Year’s Eve show. A unanimous decision win over Ryo Chonan on that card snapped a four-fight skid for the 37-year-old Japanese legend and proved he may have a little more left in the tank. Before his losing streak to Marius Zaromskis, Akihiro Gono, Nick Diaz and Jason High, his most recent win before the Chonan fight was an April 2009 victory over Aoki.

Brooks, an unbeaten prospect who trains near Chicago, will face the stiffest test of his young MMA career when he meets Kitaoka. He was briefly linked to a fight with Aoki on the card – a short-lived rumor that started when he posted on his Twitter account that he was facing Aoki at the event. But not long after, he pulled the post down. Instead, he meets Kitaoka in his first fight outside of the Midwest. Prior to an August decision win in Omaha, Neb., he had six straight stoppage wins to open his pro career.

Kitaoka got back in the win column in August with a decision win over Katsunori Kikuno at Deep 58. At DREAM’s 2011 New Year’s show, he dropped a five-round decision to Aoki with Aoki’s lightweight title on the line. Kitaoka is the former Sengoku featherweight champ, and he’ll be looking for his sixth win in seven fights.

As the UFC 189 tour made its last stop in Dublin, featherweight champ Jose Aldo was met with a torrent of abuse from the Irish fans. It might have been unpleasant, but it might also have been just what he needed.